Available Light
by afterimage93
Summary: (Disclaimer: MLP:FiM is owned by Hasbro and "Available Light" by Rush) The last story was tagged wrong, so I removed and improved it. As for the title, I couldn't come up with one, so I used the title of a song playing in the background. An outcast finds solace from an unlikely source.
1. Chapter 1

Available Light

"_Run with wind and weather_

_To the music of the sea_

_All four winds together_

_Can't bring the world to me_

_Chase the wind around the world_

_I want to look at life-_

_In the available light."_

_-Available Light by Rush_

**Author's note: I apologize to those who read my last fanfic. I was a little rushed during the pusblish process, and labeled it with the wrong tags. And as for the title, I couldn't come up with one on the spot, so I used a song that was playing in the background. Anyways, this is a do-over of the last fanfic of the same name, but with a few changes**

Chapter 1

The young man sat at his desk laptop, the daylight from his bedroom window slightly glaring

his vision. He closed the laptop and and got up to use the bathroom. A flush later and he walked over to the sink to wash his hands and face. Soapy water in his eyes, he blindly grabbed for a nearby towel, hoping to god that this time it was his and not his mother's. Luck was on his side as he made the right choice and wiped the excess water from his burning eyes before look at his reflection in the mirror before him.

Before him stood a tall, and somewhat pudgy teen with long black hair that almost touched his shoulders, his side burns fading as they ran along his chin and upper lip. He wore a Rush: Caress Of Steel T-shirt, two small with wires sticking out over the collar. Pinned to said shirt was a soft yellow button with three blue butterflies, each with a pair of pink wings. Meet Theodore, or Ted as he preferred. Today, on this particular Friday afternoon, while his parents were at his little sister's piano recital, he was indulging on his newest fascination: MLP: FiM.

Ted recalled the first times watching this remake of the 80's television series, when he came home to find an episode in his Netflix account. He figured his sister was probably in here earlier watching it. He surfed mindless through every single program available hoping for something interesting, but he had seen them all. All except for My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. The boredom became too much and he clicked on it, dreading for some thing ultra-girly and stupid. But as Ted finished the first episode, he ended watching the rest in just two days, and even started reading it's fanfiction. Ted was in love with the show and it's clever humor. Though he had to admit, the majority of the it's fanbase being teenage boys and grow men initially freaked him out, he was relieved to see that he wasn't the only guy who enjoyed the show.

He walked down the hall to his bedroom. It was fairly clean for a seventeen-year old boy's room, the carpet recently vacuumed, his bed in one corner so neat it practically called for someone to jump on and ruin it, his desk and laptop to it's adjacent right, a honeyburst electric guitar resting against the wall on top of an amplifier in another, and in the last corner, his flat-screen television. The walls and ceiling were covered with posters of various bands like Iron Maiden and The Sword. Ted walked back to his desk and continued his pony marathon.

And then, before he could even touch to laptop, the doorbell rang. Ted sighed in exasperation as he trudged out of his seat and went downstairs to the front. He looked through a blind to see a round, middle-aged man in a brown uniform and shorts. In his right hand, a small package. Ted opened the door.

"UPS delivery for one Ted F-", he started to say, but was cut off by the excited teen. "That's me", he said. He ordered a pedal unit for his guitar last week and it was finally here, or so he hoped.

His heart raced with excitement.

"Uh, okay", he replied, somewhat freaked out by the kid's ecstatic mood."Sign here". He handed him a clipboard with a piece of paper for confirming the successful delivery. Ted gave it back to the waiting mailman once he was done and bid him farewell. As soon as he locked the door, Ted bounded upstairs to his room and cradled the cardboard box in his hands, anticipation practically surging through them. But them he felt some strange coming the box and held it still. It seemed to be vibrating very rapidly.

"What the hell?", he thought out loud. What else could possibly be in this box? It was way too small to hold anything else besides the wah-wah pedal he ordered . Curiosity got the best of him and he set it down onto the oak desk peeling the tape messily off of the flaps. He opened it a little too soon, because what happened next was something he wasn't prepared for.

Instead of the small blue pedal he ordered, the inside of the box introduced Ted to a deep, dark space, as if he was peering into another world too dark to make out. But before he could comprehend what laws of physics were being broken (if any), the box started to suck him face first into the void.

"Whoaahhh!",cried Ted as he immediately started to panic while the box pulling him with the force of a hundred hands, his face drawn towards the small opening. He held the box as far away from him as he could and pushed down onto the flaps with his thumbs, but to no avail. It was already starting to rip the posters clean off their respective walls. After a while, his arms gave out and he was dragged into the empty, spacious vacuum whole, the intact box dropping to the floor with it's flaps closed shut.

Ted felt the pitch-black darkness squeeze him, like he was getting sucked in through a firm garden hose. Unfortunately, there was little to no oxygen in said darkness as Ted's breathing quickly became labored rather quickly he fell through to emptiness.

"_No...is this it..._?, he thought to himself, now on the brink of passing out. He could hear his heart beating in his ears slowing down with every passing second he plummeted through space, and soon, he passed out.

* * *

Ted felt himself regain consciousness as a bright light shone on his closed eyelids. He took in the smell of something earthy and fresh, then the rest of his senses kicked in, alerting him of his surroundings.

"_Am...am I outside_?", he thought before opening his eyes and letting them focus. Indeed, he was, but not in the yard ,or anywhere familiar for that matter. Ted was lying in a small clearing of a forest, thick trees and bushes everywhere else. He sat up, but something was off. He looked down at the ground and his body.

Ted fought back the urge to scream when he looked down at his body. Where his human form should have been, there was a horse-like body instead, four long gray hooves protruding from his t-shirt and jeans. A thick, wavy tail stuck out of the back of the jeans. Ted just there in complete shock at his new body for a few seconds, before saying, "No way." His mind racing with hundreds of questions, he stood up on his new legs and looked around. A pond layed just up ahead and he trotted over. It was as hard as he thought. In fact it was sort of like crawling on his hands and knees when he was a baby. He approached the pond and looked in. A gray stallion with a long black mane similar to his Ted's usual hairdo stared back in equal shock. A red line of dried blood ran down from behind it's bangs and down the side of it's snout. He moved them out of the way with his hoof and saw a fractured stump, the apparent source of all the blood.

"_I'm a unicorn pony...or, was_" he thought. He rubbed the blood off of his face with some of the pond water and tried to organize his racing thoughts. Back at home, he's heard of "Rule P", which basically stated that there was a pony form of everything in Equestria. Maybe That's where was. Then that means Ponyville and it's neighboring cities were real, which meant that the Mane Six were real! Ted felt himself grow excited from this revelation, but it was soon clouded by an imposing question: Where exactly was Ponyville?

Ted walked through the eerie forest cautiously. So far he had seen weird trees with scary looking faces grown in their trunks. "_This must be the Everfree Forest_", he resolved. The air grew heavy, or maybe it was just him. Either way, he hastened his steps, breaking off into a gallop down the path. he could he rushing water as he saw a river in the distance. "_Maybe that'll lead to Fluttershy's cottage_", he thought. He was mere feet from the river by now, when suddenly, a deep growling noise was made nearby. Ted heart skipped a beat as he stopped in his tracks and looked around slowly.

Half a dozen timberwolves came out of the bushes, drool dripping from their wooden maws. Ted felt his heart beat faster as the pack of beast slowly walked toward him. Soon, instinct took over as Ted darted towards the stream, the ravenous timberwolves hot on his trail. One of them caught up with the gray stallion and bit down on the tip of his tail. Ted panicked as the beast slowed him down. Then an idea came to him.

Ted lept forward and turned around to swing his tail at the pursuing timberwolves, the one from earlier's grip constant. Ted swung as hard as he could, hitting them with an audible crunching sound, sending most of them flying back including the one who was just eating his tail hairs."Rainbow Dash would've loved to see that", he thought gleefully. However, he didn't have long to bask in triumph over this brief stunt as he ran for the river.

"Shit!" he said as he saw the speed of the current. It was far too fast to swim by hoof, if his would let him. His mind raced as he looked for an alternative to either being eaten alive or swept into the rocks. He looked around, and then he saw them. A bunch of strong-looking leaves as big as he grew nearby, and he grabbed one. The ravenous wolf just several feet from him now, he jumped into the stream leaf-first and let the water carry him away.

Even though he didn't have anything to steer with, looking back to see the timberwolf watching sail away to potential safety melted away Ted's fear of crashing into rocks. Ted was exhausted from the constant running, although he didn't do much of it, and fell asleep of his raft, hoping for the best. The raft sailed on for about an hour, until it carried the sleeping teen into a pond. The pond of a familiar pegasus pony. The raft crashed onto dry land, causing Ted to roll out onto it. He stirred as he awoke to the evening sky of his destination.

An exact replica of Fluttershy's cottage came into his focusing view, and he got up and walked over to it's front door. "_Could' this really be Fluttershy's cottage?_", Ted thought as he approached. He had to admit, out of the entire 'Mane Six', she was his favorite. Her way with animals, compassionate nature, and fairly comical moments on the show earned her that title. He felt his heart beat as he raised his hoof to knock on the door.

**Author's note: So that's the first chapter of my first fanfic. Criticisms are welcome, though I doubt anyone will bother looking at it. Well, see you next chapter.**


	2. Chapter 2

Available Light

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own MLP: FiM, nor any of the songs/lyrics mentioned.**

**A/N(Author's Note): Hey again. Sorry it took so long, but if you stuck around long enough to see the second chapter, then this is your reward. As suggested by a friend, I thought I'd do something a little different by writing this chapter (and probably future ones) from my OC's perspective. **___**Thoughts are italicized. **_**Enjoy.**

Chapter 2

**{Ted's POV} **I knocked on the top half of the cottage door, wiping a bead of sweat forming on my forehead. A few seconds later, the door opened and I was met with a pair of big cyan eyes. They were framed in the face of a yellow pony with a pink mane.

_Holy shit._

"Um...hello" she spoke up nervously. Realizing the jaw-dropped look I was giving her, I closed my mouth, blushing, and apologized.

"Oh, s-sorry about that", I said quickly, then an awkward silence fell between us just as quickly. "_Come on, say something!_", I thought. "It's just that I'm new to Ponyville and just wanted to introduce myself. I'm Ted." I stretched out my hoof toward her.

The scared yellow mare seemed to relax a bit. "Oh, that's okay. I'm Fluttershy", she said as she gently shook my hoof. More awkward silence. This time, she spoke up.

"Would you like to come in"

"Uh, sure. Thanks."

We walked into the grass-roofed cottage. There were woodland animals here and there such squirrels, chipmunks, beavers, bunnies, and variety of colorful birds all around. This was Fluttershy alright, who else would have so many animals living in her home? There was no sign of Angel, so it was safe to say that he was probably outside. I followed Fluttershy to the green couch in the living room and sat down, my head swimming with questions that I knew would not get answers.

"So Ted, where are you from?", she asked. I froze in my seat. Poor thing, she wasn't even aware of the fact that her world was a T.V. Show in another dimension, or so I hoped. What if Pinkie Pie did, though? No, that's just a cartoon. Wait, I'm IN that cartoon, so it all had to be real. But how is that possible? My mind started to become bottled at the thought but then I decided to just let it go and answered the waiting mare. Beside, as random as Pinkie Pie was, the others knew that it was just best not to wonder how "Pinkius Pieicus" pulled off her spontaneous feats, especially Twilight.

"Manehatten", I lied plainly. Good answer, I thought, considering it was a real place in this world.

"Oh, I heard from Applejack that it's very busy down there. She has relatives who live in Manehatten."

"Cool."

"In fact, she went to go live with them for a while, but then she came back to work at Sweet Apple Acres because of her homesickness. I heard that how she even got her cutie mark"

I nodded in agreement. A brief silence fell before Fluttershy spoke again.

"...That's a cool shirt, Ted. I've never heard of "Rush" before. Are they a band?"

_Shit! The one question I wasn't expecting nor able to answer. _I may not have shown it, but I started to panic. _I could just tell her that I'm from another dimension where the band resided, as well as the company who created her world. Heh, like that wouldn't raise suspicion._

But after going over various scenarios of how my response could affect the future, I finally gambled on the best answer I could generate on the spot and hoped for the best.

"Yeah, they're from Middle-Earth." Another brief, but awkward silence fell between us in no time. Heh, no complaint there. I took this opportunity to change the subject.

"So, do you have any hobbies?", I asked, already aware of them before even meeting the pegasus pony in the flesh.

The yellow pegasus beamed. "Oh, I like to take care of my animal friends, ever since I was a filly. In fact, that's how I got my cutie mark." she said as she moved her pink tail out of the way to reveal the three blue and pink butterflies on her flank. Ted looked at his own.

"Oh, it looks like you don't have yours yet.", Fluttershy said sympathetically. Indeed she was right, just my gray, slightly glowing coat covered my hindquarter. My heart sink a little. Why didn't I have mine's yet? I mean, not to boast, but I'm always imagined he'd have something music related like a musical note or clef, or even the instrument I excelled in, in my case, the guitar.

"I don't think I have a talent worthy of one", I said.

"You, know, two of my friend's younger sisters have a club dedicated to finding their special talent, and ultimately, cutie marks. Maybe they'll let you join." She chuckled, and I joined her, inwardly pondering enlistment, regarding their reckless antics of course.

"Well, if you don't mind me asking, what are your hobbies?" the mare asked as she moved closer to him on the couch. Ted looked at her and started to heat up.

_Wow, I never noticed how hot she was. Wait, did I just call a pony hot? Meh, well looking at my situation, I don't see anything wrong with that. Besides, I was born human, so she's probably just a woman in pony form. A woman without any clothes on...Oh, hobbies! _I snapped back to reality and answered the waiting pegasus.

"Well, I also like taking care of animals as well as playing the guitar." Though I doubted that I'd be able to play it though, what with having hooves and all. Then again, Octavia played the cello and fiddle on 'The Best Night Ever' and 'Luna Eclipse'. Maybe ponies can play musical instruments, well, ponies in this world. It's all a cartoon, anyway. I noticed an acoustic six-string siting in a corner and pointed to it. "You play, too?"

"Oh, um...no.", Fluttershy slightly retreated behind her pink curtain of hair. "It was just a gift."

"May I?"

"Sure."

I trotted over and balanced it on my back, an easier task than I initially thought, and returned to my seat on the couch beside the shy pegasus. Uncertain in how to hold the guitar in my new body, I figured the easiest way was to sit Lyra-style, the curve of it's body resting on my leg. How I was able to do this comfortably was a brief mystery; If Pinkie Pie could simply flip logic the birdie by doing things that were physically impossible for even the most fit of ponies , then nothing from this point could surprise me.

I cleared my throat and plucked all of the nylon strings with my hoof, they were in E standard tuning. Again, perplexed by my ability to play the stringed instrument, though not by much, I prepped myself by softly playing random chord progression. Fluttershy watched contently as I segued into a soft, yet peaceful riff and sang along with the music:

"_Sunlight dances through the leaves,_

_Soft winds stir the sighing trees,_

_Lying in the warm grass,_

_Feel the sun upon your face,_

_Elven songs and endless nights,_

_Sweet wine and soft releasing lights,_

_Time will never touch you,_

_In this enchanted place..._"

* * *

I let the last few notes fade as the song came to an end. Fluttershy clopped her hooves in applause. "That was wonderful", she said. "I'm surprised you don't have a cutie mark in guitar-playing. How did you learn to play like that?"

I felt my face heat up at this. "From years of practice, I guess. I've thought about starting a band, but no one I've met played anything. Who knows, maybe I'll get my cutie mark that way."

We shared some laughs and talked into the late hours. To avoid confusion, I showed her my broken horn, earning a gasp of shock from her. Talking to Fluttershy was rather consoling, regarding her potential insanity as seen at the Grand Galloping Gala. I spent most of this time listening to the pegasus mare as she talked about her friends and their adventures together. All this I already knew, but had the ears and patience for it. Later that night, Fluttershy offered me to stay at her cottage, and seeing how there was nowhere else to go, I accepted gratefully. The guest room was small but comfortable, with only a twin-sized bed and a nightstand and lamp but for now it would do. I bid her goodnight and listened to her hoofsteps fade into the opposite room down the hallway.

I took off my somewhat sweaty clothes and placed my iPod on the small shelf beside the bed. Low battery, at least it was still functional. If I was going to stay here, then the least I could do was get a job to pay rent. Tomorrow. I climbed in and stared up at the ceiling, thinking.

_Oh, man. I got to meet Fluttershy today, she's real and I'm betting so are the rest of her friends! Hnnng. I'm one lucky brony! Wait, that must mean Nightmare Moon, Discord, and the other villains on the show are real. Well, from what Fluttershy told me, they don't pose any real threat at the moment. but now that I think about it, is everypony here being voiced by their actresses as we speak? At this rate, improbable. I wonder what Mom and Dad are doing right now. And Jamie. She's probably watching Ponies on Netflix right now. Whatever. But that package. What the hell was that all about...?_

* * *

"Could you refill the bowl by the door, please?" called Fluttershy as she refilled the bird feeders outside the next day.

I balanced the bag of animal pellets into the blue bowl and tilted it into the bowl. "How much?", I asked over the cascading sound they made as they fell into the hard plastic dish. "About a third of the bag", she called. By the time I finished, the pile was almost as tall as me, and almost immediately, the animals swarmed in on it like locust. _Hmm, it must be that good_.

We cleaned up the rest of the cottage after that, leaving it free of dust and the occasional animal dropping, to go hang out at Twilight's. I left my clothes there as well, seeing how pretty much everypony usually didn't wear clothes. As we went through the streets, I heard a sharp gasp and a pink blur zoomed towards us, revealing it's self as the famous party-pony of Ponyville herself.

"Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh! Fluttershy, I didn't know you had a coltfriend! He's kinda cute, too! Is he new 'cause I've never seen him before, and I literally know everypony in town!", the ecstatic pink mare said.

"Oh, um, he's not my-"

But she zipped up to me and said, "Hi! I'm Pinkie Pie! What's your name?"

Not wanting to disappoint, certainly not from the fear of Cupcakes Pinkamena taking over (granted that side of her was real), I shook her hoof replied with, "I-I'm Ted. And actually... ", both me and Fluttershy started blushing brightly, "...we're not dating."

"Oh, sorry! It just looked like you were dating because you looked cute together. Well, I should get to Dashie's-" She gasped again and shot off in a random direction, out of sight leaving me and Fluttershy in front of the town square.

_Haha, Pinkie Pie's so random._

"Oh, don't mind Pinkie", Fluttershy said as we walked up to the tree-library. "She might throw you a party since your new in town...if you don't mind." We stood at the door and knocked. Footsteps approached the door and then it opened to reveal a purple dragon with green head scales.

"Oh, hi Fluttershy! Who's this?", he said

"Hi Spike. This is Ted, he's just moved here."

We shook hoof and claw. "Come in", he said as we followed him to the library, which was missing something, but I couldn't quite grasp it...

"So, are you two like, going out or something?"

"No," we said simultaneously, resulting in more awkward, tense silence. "So how's it going?", said Fluttershy, trying to change the subject. Spike sighed.

"Just keeping this place running as usual. Though it's been kind of boring without Twilight to clean up after."

"Wait, Twilight's not here?! What happened?", I said obviously alarmed, yet trying to hide it.

"She moved to Canterlot after helping me and the girls find our true selves," said Fluttershy . "She's one of the princesses now", Spike added sadly. "After she left, I was left in charge of the library. I mean, it's not a perfect living, but at least it pays the bills, ya know?"

"Hmm. Hey, Spike, could you use a hoof? I'm looking for a job at the moment", I said. Spike thought for a moment.

"Well, it would speed up business. And I would need someone to look after Peewee when I'm gem hunting with Rarity. Sure!," he said. "When can you start?"

"Is today alright with you?", I said to Fluttershy.

"Oh, sure. And when your done, you can come back to the cottage...if you want", she added meekly. I chuckled inwardly.

Later that day, Spike gave me a basic update of how things ran at the treebrary. I took the opportunity to attend to my broken horn by reading from the library's books and found, to my luck, that it could grow back in a few days, depending on what remained of the horn itself. I had a small piece left, so I could only perform the more rudimentary spells like telekinesis and weak force fields. I also took this opportunity to write out an ad for the band. After a few minutes, it was done and read:

**Musicians Wanted**

**For those willing to audition for rock band, show up**

**at the town's theater this Friday afternoon from 3pm to 5pm.**

**The following musicians are needed (with own equipment,**

**however amps will be provided):**

**1 guitarist**

**1 bassist**

**1 drummer**

**1 vocalist**

**Solos may have a duration of three minutes.**

**Also, ideas for a band name are encouraged.**

**Good luck.**

I went over the ad several times before making several magical copies. _Fair enough. Now all I need is the equipment for the auditions and an appointment for it to be held there, and six days is plenty of time, I guess.__ A belching sound was made a Spike received a letter, mouthing it's text._

_"Oh, well it looks like we'll have a chance to visit Twilight at Canterlot", the dragon said happily. "She wants to meet you in person, Ted."_

Suddenly, the treebrary's door burst open and in hopped Pinkie Pie, followed by the remainder of the Element bearers: Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Applejack.

"There you are!" the excited party pony piped up. "I was wondering where you and Fluttershy went, but then I forgot to ask you where you were heading, so that was my bad, but here you are!"

"Howdy, partner. Pinkie here told us all about ya. Ah'm Applejack", the farmer introduced as we shook hooves. "This here's Rainbow Dash."

The cyan pegsaus flew up and stuck her chest out. "The coolest pony around!"

"Uh, yeah", Applejack went on, ignoring her. "This is Rarity."

"Nice to meet you, darling. And my little Spikey-Wikey!" The love-struck Spike sighed dreamily as she nuzzled his cheek.

"And of course you already know Pinkie Pie."

_"_Of course he does, silly! We're friends." she piped as she bounced around.

"Hey, girls. We're just on our way to Canterlot to see Twilight if you wanna come", said Spike. The train ride to Canterlot was taken care of, since Twilight sent tickets for her friends just in case they tagged along. We had a cart to ourselves as we hung out. We eventually made it to the castle of her highness's residence and was greeted by a familiar voice.

"Welcome, everypony", said Twilight from the flight of stairs. Except she had a pair of wings sticking out of her back. She's an alicorn!? Holy shit, how much did I miss?I saw Spike and the girls bow before them and automatically did the same. Twilight seemed to break out in tears as she stood in an embrace. "Oh, bring it in", she said cheerfully as her friends rushed in and gave her a big group hug just like old times. I smiled t the tender reunion "So's how's everything going?", said Princess Twilight. "Spike, how's the library?"

"It's going good, though not as good without you around," he replied nostalgically. "But I hired Ted to help around, ya know?"

Me and Twilight exchanged greetings before we all went upstairs to her study. Turns out she's now royalty, and it seemed liked yesterday when she was nose deep in an astronomy book at the treebrary. Good for her, I guess. We all finally reached her study and closed the door.

"I've called you here to discuss an important discovery I've made." She turned to me. "About two weeks ago, I discovered a trans-dimensional spell that allows ponies to cross into different worlds. Coincidently, yours was the first I discovered with this new spell."

"Wait, his world?", Rainbow Dash said skeptically. "But he said he was from Manehatten." I immediately felt all eyes in the room lock on me, but feared to make eye contact. So they all know now... I hung my head and sighed in defeat.

"I'm sorry I lied to you all, it's just I didn't know how to say it with out freaking you all out. But the truth is, I'm really from a planet called Earth, in a different world."

Silence and then Pinkie Pie gasped sharply.

"So, you're like an alien!" We all gave Pinkie a look of sheer WTF-ness.

"Wha-?!" I didn't know how to respond to this sudden role reversal, but then again, technically..."Yeah, I guess I am."

"To broaden my studies", Twilight went on, "I located the nearest inhabitable planet, Earth. I was transported right outside of your house, Ted. And forgive me for this, but..."

"But what?"

"I...kind of stalked you. But it was strictly for my research on human life." she said to my visibly shocked expression. Indeed Twilight was quite the educational explorer. "I thought you humans knew our world existed because you wore a T-shirt with Fluttershy on it."

We glanced at Fluttershy, who blushed with an audible *****squee***** "Oh, my".

"And speaking of which, what was that all about?"

"I-I-"I never thought something like this would have to happen to anyone. In movies yes, but real life? *Sigh* Might as well...

**An appropriate amount of time later**

I had finally finished explaining everything I knew about the MLP back on Earth: it's exact plot compared to this world, it's merchandise, and the fanbase (a delicate topic, so I kept the rule 34 secret), and even showed them an episode on my iPod. Needless to say that everypony was stunned and speechless. Everypony except Twilight and Pinkie Pie.

"So does that mean were famous?" blurted out Pinkie, her excitement a little higher than usual.

"I'm glad you brought this up, because it leads into my research. As I studied your daily routine, it involved watching us on a show based on Equestria, from the events to even the exact words we've used, even Pinkie Pie's impulsive singing habits!"

Oh my god...this is like "Stranger Than Fiction".

"Wait just an apple-buckin' minute. Your saying that all these 'humans' back where Ted lives copied all our lives into a T.V. show without seeing us firsthand?, said an incredulous Applejack.

"Why that's just silly! I mean, no offense but how can a whole race from another dimension know all of our actions with knowing we exist? Have they been spying on us?", Rarity added.

"Ooh, maybe they can see us!", Pinkie Pie looked and pressed her face on what I can only assume was an invisible window (or television screen). "We come in peace!", she added in a Martian-esque manner before chuckling.

"No, that's just the thing. They don't know", Twilight went on. "They think it's all some cartoon. I spoke with Princess Celestia about this and she said it should stay that way for the sake of security." I wanted to speak against this at first, but let it be. The last thing Earth needed to worry about right now were technicolor, talking ponies. Sorry, other bronies.

"But what about our fans? Don't you think we should at least introduce ourselves to one of them?" said Rainbow Dash.

"Uh, you just did", I added. "Besides I don't think they'll believe you're actually Rainbow Dash. Most bronies like to cosplay as everyone here, from my knowledge. But there's something I don't understand, how'd I get here?

"I enchanted your package with a teleportation spell that was supposed to send you here in my office. Where'd you end up?"

"...The mountains." A simple, harmless white lie, I suppose.

"Me and the princess also spoke about your presence here in Equestria. She thinks it woulld be a good idea to see how you would interact with the townsfolk. Think of it as a real-life cosplay. ain purpose for bringing you here is to teach you, Ted, about the magic of friendship, just as Princess Celestia did to me. Would you like to stay in Ponyville for the time being?"

I looked around at the others, all of whom seemed to approve of the the thought of me staying. Friendship. I watch a childrens' show about friendship when I have none myself. How ironic. But then again, these are the closest things to friends I have, so the thought of living with them is all too tempting.

"Sure!"

After hanging out for a little while, we made it back to the Treebrary and threw my welcoming party. I got to meet a lot of faces, familiar and new, from the show (Derpy's eyes are normal again!). The next day, I posted the ads all over town and went to the new music shop that open recently called Guitar City and, with my starting pay, walked in to look around. To put it simply, the whole place was pretty much Wal-Mart for instruments. The walls were lined with guitars, acoustic and electric, of all various sizes, shapes and colors, with amps underneath them. The air was filled with the chatter of customers and employees. If you listen hard enough, drums could be heard further in.

"Hey, welcome to Guitar City, can I help you?", I heard a voice welcome in my direction as I entered. I turned to see a white unicorn with a pair of purple goggles under her vivid two-toned blue mane wearing a red and black vest. Her gold pin read "Vinyl Scratch".

_So DJ PON-3 works here? Cool._

"Eeyup", I said.

* * *

I sat on the edge of the stage, passing the time by playing random riffs on my new guitar and testing out the pickups installed. This one was similar to my honeyburst Ibanez back at home , but with Guitar City's logo instead. I set up two of my amps on stage so that each one was off to the sides next to red curtains and the third at the front with the microphone. Putting the guitar down on the stand, I glanced at the clock.

_3:59. All that's left to do is w-_

My train of thought was broken by the double doors opening and ponies flooded the aisle. Almost everyone was holding an instrument that was requested, so those who came empty-hoofed were probably singers. I heard the clatter of cymbals and drums from the lobby.

I cleared my throat. "Hey, everypony. Can I have your attention, please", I called out over the chatter coming from the crowd, which eventually subsided. About thirty townsfolk came to audition from my counting, so this shouldn't take long.

"Is this where auditions are being held?" I heard someone call from the crowd.

"Yes. I'm Ted and I'm assuming everyone here plays an instrument listed in my ad. We have about an hour and fifty-nine minutes to spare, so let's have all of the drummers set up their equipment on stage first." There were only about four drummers auditioning today, one of them I recognized as Snips.

Wait, _he _drums? I thought he was just some Trixie fanboy! _Oh well, everypony looks pretty confident in their so this probably won't take long._

I had no idea how wrong my prediction would be.

Everypony so far...to put it nicely, was below amateur. The drummers just sat dumbly and tapped on each piece one at a time, the guitar and bass players couldn't decide how fast or when to transition from one simple note or chord to the next, and the singers just sounded hoarse and off-tune. It felt like hours they sounded so bad. I would've been able to look past that if they had just slowed down to a steady pace like I asked like a hundred times. The crowd got smaller as I dismissed them and I was just about ready to pack it in for the day.

Then Spike, Snips, and Snails all got on stage. _Wait, these three play instruments? _"Hey, were next, right?", drawled Snails, a green bass guitar slung around his neck.

"Well, duh, of course we are," Snips said through the pair of drumsticks in his mouth, gesturing to the empty theater. "Who else is gonna audition?"

"So, you guys are gonna play together?", I said. This would be a first.

"Yeah. We don't have a band name yet, but we're looking for a second guitarist to join our group." said Spike.

_Hmm. Interesting._

"Alright, let's see what your got."

The three started to set up; Snails plugged in his bass, Snips made some last-minute tunings on his twenty-five piece drum kit, and Spike tuned my guitar up some. He then adjusted the microphone height and spoke into it.

"This is our cover of Winter Wrap-Up" he said as he played the chord progression while turning up the volume and changing the pickup to the cleaner alternative. Snails played a smooth bass-line as Spike cleared his throat and sang over the arpeggios. By the start of the chorus, Spike switched to the dirtier, more intense pickup and the whole band charged into a slightly faster, but harder and heavier rock cover. It sounded like something Weezer would jam to if they were bronies.

I had to admit, it was the best I've heard over the past hour and a half; Snips had a steady, polyrhythmic beat, Snails laid down a smooth, yet catchy bass riff, alternating between strums and slaps, and Spike, while an adequate guitarist, was an even better singer, hitting high notes without letting his voice break out into a falsetto. He sounded like a cross between Geddy Lee and RJD in their primes. Dear Celestia, I've only heard Spike sing a couple of times on the show and both times he did NOT sound like that!

"_Winter Wrap Up, Winter Wrap Up_..." Spike and Snails sang into the mic and towards the end of the song, the three solo-ed each other in, shredding like there was no tomorrow. They finished the rest of song in a bang and I gave them a standing ovation.

"Wow! That was flippin' awesome! You guys are so in!", I said from the seats. "In fact, here something you'll probably enjoy." I focused my magic from my horn and the green aura covered their faces as well as mine.

"Sweeet", my new band-mates said gleefully. In no time, we now a band...with moustaches. A brief silence filled the atmosphere before Spike broke it. "So what do we do now?"

"Well," I glanced at the clock of to the side, "We're out of time, so I guess we could all meet up here tomorrow for our first jam session." The three colts onstage (yes, Spike included) looked and shrugged at each other before turning to me.

"Eh, sure", said Snips from behind his drums.

"Uh-huh", Snails agreed.

"That sounds about right." said Spike putting the guitar back on the stand. "I gotta get back to the library to collect some overdue fees."

"Hmm", I nodded. We packed up and left the went our separate ways for now.

* * *

"Argh! Oh!" I groaned whilst running out of the chicken coop, covered in feathers, seeds and peck marks. My unicorn horn had also grown back. "Bunch o' pigs." I walked back inside for the next task Fluttershy had for me, only to find her about to leave.

"Oh, I'm going to meet up with the girls at the spa, but if you want come along.", she said meekly.

I chuckled. "Thank you, but I'm actually going to meet up with the guys for our first jam session. Hey, Fluttershy?"

"Yes, Ted?", she replied. I drew her into a hug and said, "Thanks for letting me stay here with you. It really means a lot to me." My face grew hot.

"Oh, it's okay. It's so nice to have help with the animals, and from a fan of mine", I heard her say. I breathed in and took in her scent. She smelled very refreshing, yet pleasant, like a pine forest after the rain. I let her go and looked into her cyan-colored eyes. _God she's beautiful. Even for a pony._

I started to blush at my own thoughts. She saw me and blushed a little as well. "Well, I should get going."

"Yeah, me too", I replied. We both chuckled awkwardly before going our separate ways. After taking care of some last-minute book orders, me and Spike heard a knocking from the door. It revealed to be Snips and Snails, apparently ready for our first jam session of the day. We all went downstairs to the basement, where I had taken the liberty to soundproof the walls with bumpy, grooved foam padding on the walls and ceiling to contain our sound. I helped set up the equipment as Spike closed the treebrary for now.

* * *

"Wow, this thing is just like my iPone", said Snips as he fiddled with my iPod.

"Wait, what's a human?", Snails said, confused. "They're from a different dimension called Earth, that's where I'm from" I replied before showing him and Snips a photo of me and the family at Niagara Falls. They all freaked out at the sight.

"What the buck are those things!?" Snips pointed out shakily.

"That's me and my family", I said slightly offended, but I understood their shock. These were obviously the first humans they had ever seen.

"But if your a human turned pony in this world, then what would that make me in your world?", said Spike. _Good question, I guess 'Rule P' applies to non-pony folk as well._

"Probably human."

"Geez, are all of these bands from Earth, 'cause I've never heard of them." Snips was reading off the titles of the artists on my iPod when an upbeat drum intro played from it. "What song is that?", said Spike sitting backwards in his chair.

Snips squinted at the screen. "Pinwheels. I like it!", he said while headbanging, Snails and Spike following suite, and turning the music up.

**(A/N: Here's the link to that song:** watch?v=o43yxYg9Ew0 **)**

After it ended, we decided to give it a go. It took a while before we all got the song down. "Alright, ready when you guys are", Spike spoke up into the mic, since we all had headphones on. Snips counted us in before diving into the intro. Me and Spike proceeded to the guitar riffs, soon followed by Snails' bassline. Spike kept the main rhythm as I soloed.

"Whoa!" I shouted by the end of that song.

"Buck Yeah!" Snips piped up. "Dude, you gotta download that to me."

"We should play more songs from this thing.", said Snails searching for another song. "What else should we do?" We spent the next hour listening to my iPod and learning the various songs on there, jamming all the while.

**A/N: Well that's Chapter 2 for ya. Any ideas or criticisms are accepted, just review or PM me.**


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